The Next American Revolution

While there's been no shortage of commentary about the structural crisis plaguing the American economic and political system, from wage stagnation and chronic unemployment to unchecked corporate and state power and growing inequality, analyses that offer practical, politically viable solutions to these problems have been few and far between. This illustrated presentation from distinguished historian and political economist Gar Alperovitz is a rare and stunning exception. Pointing to efforts already under way in thousands of communities across the U.S., from co-ops and community land trusts to municipal, state, and federal initiatives that promote entrepreneurship and sustainability, Alperovitz marshals years of research to show how bottom-up strategies can work to check monopolistic corporate power, democratize wealth, and empower communities. The result is a highly accessible look at the current economy and a common-sense roadmap for building a system more in sync with American values.

About Gar Alperovitz
Gar Alperovitz has had a distinguished career as a historian,
political economist, activist, writer, and government official. He
is currently the Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Political Economy at
the University of Maryland and is a former Fellow of Kings College,
Cambridge University; Harvard's Institute of Politics; the
Institute for Policy Studies; and a Guest Scholar at the Brookings
Institution. He is the author of critically acclaimed books on the
atomic bomb and atomic diplomacy and his articles have appeared in
the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Los
Angeles Times, the New Republic, The Nation, and
the Atlantic among other popular and academic publications.
Alperovitz received a bachelor of science degree from the
University of Wisconsin; a masters degree from the University of
California at Berkeley; and his Ph.D. in political economy as a
Marshall Scholar at Cambridge University. After completing his
studies he served as a legislative director in both houses of
Congress and as a special assistant in the State Department. Among
his many achievements is having been the architect of the first
modern steel industry attempt at worker ownership in Youngstown,
Ohio. In addition, he was nominated to be a member of the Council
of Economic Advisers by leading national consumer, labor, and
environmental organizations. He is also the president of the
National Center for Economic and Security Alternatives and is a
founding principal of the University of Maryland-based Democracy
Collaborative, a research institution developing practical,
policy-focused, and systematic paths towards ecologically
sustainable, community-oriented change and the democratization of
wealth. Visit him at www.garalperovitz.com.

"Accessible and honest, Gar Alperovitz's new film is important
viewing. As he has done in his books, Alperovitz calls for a new
economy and shares a brilliant strategy for the type of
transformative change that can lead America from decline to
rebirth. An enormous contribution exactly where it is most
needed."
- James Gustave Speth | Professor of Law at Vermont Law School and
Author of America the Possible: Manifesto for a New
Economy

"The 2008-09 Wall Street collapse and Great Recession exposed the
severe long-term problems facing U.S. capitalism, including mass
unemployment, rising inequality, and environmental destruction. Gar
Alperovitz excavates the root causes of these problems in this
brilliantly clear lecture. But he also goes much further, to
provide solutions that are equal parts practical and visionary.
Alperovitz develops nothing less than a program for deep democratic
renewal in the U.S., building from a wide range of exciting work
already being done by people throughout the country."
- Robert Pollin | Professor of Economics at the University of
Massachusetts, Amherst

"Economic historian Gar Alperovitz looks at the quiet growth of
employee-owned companies (which now have 10 million members), the
130 million members of co-ops and credit unions, and sees the
potential to democratize decision-making. From Cleveland, Ohio to
Atlanta, Georgia to Amarillo, Texas, he catalogues how these new
forms of ownership succeed economically. Always thought-provoking,
Alperovitz suggests that America's pragmatism, strong local
traditions, and 'can-do' attitude may help pull us out of our
current political and economic stalemate --- even in areas where we
have lagged behind. Out of its troubles, America has the capacity
to birth an evolutionary re-construction of capitalism. That
reconstruction could have a more human face and a more realistic
approach to environmental challenges such as climate change. So if
you have given up on the possibility of positive change... watch
this video!"
- Daphne Greenwood | Professor of Economics at the University of
Colorado, Colorado Springs

"Gar Alperovitz does more than pack a tremendous amount of passion
and wisdom about the structural ills of our society. He proposes a
common-sense strategy for fixing them as well -- grounded in local
institutions that can construct a truly democratic economy. Every
progressive should watch this video and then start practicing what
this economist preaches."
- Michael Kazin | Professor of History at Georgetown University and
Author of American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a
Nation

"In this refreshing and illuminating film, Gar Alperowitz discusses
the practical alternatives to capitalism and state socialism which
already exist in the activities of grassroots organisations across
the U.S. Although he stresses that we need to be cool and cautious
about the likelihood of a post-capitalist system coming to
fruition, Alperowitz deftly avoids the traps of pessimism in the
face of a stagnant and seemingly unchangeable system and of
optimism rooted in a naivety about the paths to a democratic,
egalitarian future. This film is recommended to people of many
political persuasions, who are disillusioned with the current
system and open to suggestions regarding how to transform it."
- Ian Bruff | Lecturer in European Politics at the University of
Manchester

"Gar Alperovitz challenges us to think systematically about our
current environment, and make connections between the myriad of
innovative alternatives arising from the pain of crisis, stagnation
and decay. He offers an analysis that brings together disparate
trends, both positive and negative, as he builds an argument of
hope for democratic ownership and a just society."
- Anne Reynolds | Assistant Director of the University of Wisconsin
Center for Cooperatives

"Alperovitz leads a grim tour of the deteriorated values at the
core of the American experience -- equality, liberty, democracy,
and the wise use of our collective wealth. Then he takes us to the
mountaintop with a broad and optimistic mapping vision of how
Americans can remake their economy and society to restore those
values. A compelling and convincing story of the future."
- William Greider | Author of The Soul of a Capitalism: Opening
Paths to a Moral Economy

"With an iron-clad logic and at a graciously temperate pace, Gar
Alperovitz charts the road from the recent social discont to a new
socio-economic system, without passing through utopia. Instead, he
discerns the attainable possibilities for a better life in what
already exists as small-scale economic and social experimentation
in the United States -- experimentation driven equally by people's
desperation and that inspired commonse-sense, that forward-looking
pragmatism that has given American society the optimistic,
roll-up-your-sleeve spirit that has enabled its best achievements.
The informative academic content, combined with ideas that tease
the intellectual imagination, make this film a valuable teaching
tool."
- Albena Azmanova | Senior Lecturer in International Relations at
the University of Kent